It has been around a month into my full retirement. Except for my recent set-back, things are going nicely. My problem, and it may not be a problem, is that I still awake each morning at the same time I did when I worked. No alarm needed, just eyes awake and this happens around 4 a.m. everyday. Seems to be a time that my brain is stuck on. I'm in bed and asleep between 9:30 or 10:00 p.m. I have gone the route of going to bed later to see if that helps, but I still wake at 4. Any ideas? Want to reprogram my brain to let me sleep to a more normal time.
Tough one. You might try 5mg-10mg of melatonin before bedtime. It’s a natural sleep hormone that isn’ produced as much as we grow older. That said, your brain is programmable especially in the area of sleep. Personally, when I really do not care what time I wish to get up I will probably be up at around 3-4 o’clock. When I find that I’m not getting enough sleep, I concentrate on the time I wish to arise before I go to sleep and then whatever hour I have set my mental clock for is generally when I will start to stir. You can even set your coffee pot for a later hour and concentrate on the time your coffee will be ready before you dose off. A couple of night’s practice and you should be good to go.
Thanks for the suggestions, it's not really a problem, just annoying. Since I don't have to 'be' anywhere at a certain time ( like work ), would like to get that wake up time reset. I'm going to mess around with some lighting changes and temperature adjustments.
I took early retirement last summer ( 2017) ..and I still wake up at 5am, even if I haven't gone to bed 'till 3am ...irritating, but then I'm not a good sleeper anyway!!
I have been trying to regulate my sleep for 4 years. Maybe when the hubby leaves his job in January that will help.
Always was told Old people do not need a lot of sleep. Irks me to this day. At least we could be consistent .
Hopefully in time @Tim Burr your body clock will change itself...but then again it may not. I am an early riser and no matter what time I go to bed...I still wake up early. What will be...will be.
Yeah, irks me too. The idea that older people do not need as much reparative time is ridiculous. If anything, we need as much time for our bodies to repair and most of that work is done through our rest periods. There is a "but" to that though. A lot depends on how active we are. I hit the gym and intentionally tear down a lot of muscle fiber but muscle isn't built in the gym, it's built during sleep so the rest time is more valuable and needed. If one isn't very active, there isn't a whole lot to repair and our brain takes that into account and the demand is less. I do know a few older people at the gym who say that they do about 10 minutes of cardio before bed in order to get a full night's sleep.
@Bobby Cole ...cardio...hahahahhahah lolololol... I lift me butt from the toilet... that is cardio at this age
Bobby: "If one isn't very active, there isn't a whole lot to repair and our brain takes that into account and the demand is less." I'm stuck in this cycle of I am so tired from lack of sleep that I find it harder to be active. I'll force myself though, because I must break this new routine. Like Joe's cartoon above, my brain is yelling 'Get up, get up!'
It has been a long time since I have worked on a time clock and, even then, I mostly worked the graveyard shift, but I have always been able to get up within a few minutes of whatever time I want to, as long as I know what time it is when I go to bed.
I always wake up early and always have. Even when I set the alarm for an early morning flight, I still wake up before it goes off...just the way I am. I also can't stay in bed once I'm awake. The minute my eyes open I jump out of bed....well not jump but get up pretty quickly.